I’ve been trying REALLY HARD to shift some focus to some more positive things. Mostly because I can find about a million things or people in a day that drive me around the twist, and if I do focus on them… I’ll just get into this huge downward spiral and feel like $hit.  So I put pen to paper and started thinking what do I like… what do I like… what do I like.. what makes me happy…what makes me relaxed?…

Recently I went to Mexico. It’s our third trip to Puerto Vallarta/Nuevo Vallarta and we were fortunate to have some pretty amazing experiences the first time down and made some friends who we have kept in touch with.  One took us on a personalized tour this year… Happy; when I was touring Bucerias, feeling relaxed, learning about the culture, riding around in the dune buggy learning about the beautiful homes that people had built, the gardens, the pools, the furniture that had hand-picked and brought from Guadalajara.  My feet in the ocean, finding sea glass. Sitting in the private pool with a couple of random guys who owned a beach front condo…and joking around about whether or not they were going to “Roofie” me. Making people laugh, the gold flicker in the sand under the water reflecting from the sun. Playing volleyball, instant connections with people I’d never met before.

I’ve always felt that traveling creates this euphoria and sense of possibility.  It’s the bright blue sky, different style music, foreign languages, new people, the vastness of the ocean and the beach…It’s time to relax, without obligation, time to imagine, getting sucked into a good book, combined perhaps with the pretty amazing feat that we can get into an airplane, rise to the sky, and come out not only at this completely different and foreign place- but also- that the rules about “time” change while we’re in the sky and we can move backwards!? Suddenly silly notions and ideas seem possible.

Our first trip was in April of 2013, and we ended up at the hotel we were at with the people we were with, through what we thought at the time was a complete crisis. My mom and I were flying home a day apart because of how the flights worked… It was kind of a mess.  All week, I begged and pleaded, and called the airline every day to try and bump my flight back by a day.  They would do it; for a fee of $450.

To make me feel worse, there was a guy… he was actually our tour rep, and we had started talking midweek and agreed we should meet and go out on “the town.”  On my final night there, I hadn’t heard from him, and I gave up and went to the disco with mom.  When we returned to our room around 3am, there was a note on the door, which had been there all night, saying he would pick me up at 9pm.  I had totally, unintentionally stood him up.  I felt awful. I explained the next day, but he seemed to be in disbelief that it was just an oversight.  I reluctantly packed up my stuff.  I went to say goodbye, and he wasn’t there.

I hopped in the cab and headed for the airport, pretty bummed out and emotional as all week I had been using my affirmations that my flight would change… Something would give… Surely the universe would help me out… And NOTHING…I was stuck with the same flight, leaving mom in Mexico alone…What was with the secret $#it anyway?!   I arrived at the airport, and said goodbye to Mexico. I walked inside and dug out my documents.  As I wheeled my bag across the floor to the check in, there he was: mr tour guide; coming down the stairs.  He hugged me. He told me he wasn’t mad at me.  He also told me that he had taken the company car and might get in trouble…but that he had to say goodbye and make sure I had his number to chat with him when I got home.  It was like being in a movie!  We said goodbye.. I cried like the goofus girl I am.

I got to the counter and gave the agent my passport and tickets.  She said some things in Spanish, then she disappeared.  She came back.  I gently asked “any chance I can go home tomorrow?”  More muttering in spanish.  A Solid half hour went by.  I had no idea what they were doing.  When three agents finally looked up from talking in front of the screen and someone finally explained it to me: there had been bad weather in Texas and my connection had been cancelled.  I couldn’t go home.  Shock came across my face.  They said I would have to take the next flight, which left about 6 hours from then and was flying into San Francisco.  The reality of the situation hit me when I said (trying to hide my smile) “So I’m delayed and it’s YOUR fault?”  Yes.  I shared with them, that actually I had accommodations for one more night if there was a flight going home the following day.  I was booked in on that flight, and “due to the inconvenience” I was given a $200 voucher for future use, and, they paid for my cab back to the hotel- and to return to the airport the next day.  In short, the airline ended up paying me- to do what I had wanted all along.

I hopped back in the cab and could barely contain my excitement when I leapt from the cab and ran to find my mom (and Alberto (MR TourRep! ) to announce I was staying!!!  Thank you Universe, sorry for doubting you!!  And we ALL…. Got to go out on the town!  We went to the Sunshine Bar…where we met Armando and Lucero who are the ones who took us on the tour and have had us back every year.  A little faith… and things can be better than we imagine.